Some of the most fascinating insights from our recent survey
on the impact of the
CTX donation programmes revolved around their effect on
morale and professionalism within charities. The findings in this area sparked
a debate that resulted in my recent
blog for the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network. I wanted to get
underneath the headlines of the Guardian blog and look at why the donation of technology to a charity can have such a positive impact on staff.
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of respondents to our survey (83%) stated that the donation programmes helped them access software
they would otherwise have been unable to afford. Investment in IT is
notoriously low within charities (the
National Computing Centre reported in 2011 that the Third Sector registered the lowest investment per employee of all
the sectors they surveyed) and this has a knock on effect on staff. We have
all suffered the frustrations of poor IT - PC’s not responding, connections to
the internet failing, not being able to read documents sent to us
electronically etc. For many charity staff, this is still a daily reality.
Our survey identified ‘more robust systems’ and reduced
compatibility issues as two areas where donated technology had a major impact -
addressing the basic requirements of a charity's technology infrastructure. But
‘benefits from new software features’, ‘better use of and awareness of
features’, and ‘increased expectations of IT’ also featured heavily among the
benefits the donations brought. So what we are seeing is a positive feedback
loop where better underlying technology breeds confidence in that technology.
This confidence then encourages people to use the features of the technology
more and, having discovered new benefits, they are more positive about looking
for ways that technology can help them. Once a positive attitude towards a
charity’s technology has been engendered, staff start to expect it to help them
rather than hinder them. As this feedback occurs, the users begin to be more
positive about the changes technology can bring and it becomes easier to use
technology to drive more ambitious improvements, particularly where a charity
comes into contact with its beneficiaries and funders.
What our survey found was that taking away people’s
frustration with technology increases staff morale and drives up the perception
that the organisation is ‘professional’ at what it does. This is no doubt about
more than the technology itself. It probably has a lot to do with how
technology helps make processes more consistent and repeatable. As was pointed
out in the
Guardian blog, this gives people a level of confidence that they can
deliver on the promises they make (or the organisation makes on their behalf).
It also gives them confidence in front of fundraisers and their friends and
family when they talk about what they do.
Most people buy into the ideals of their charity. They want
it to succeed, they want it to deliver the results their beneficiaries are looking
for. There is nothing better for a charity’s staff and volunteers than to see
those successes and have the confidence that they can do it again and again. A
robust technology foundation, the feeling that they are working in a 21st
century organisation, is clearly a big step in this direction.
